Eaon Pritchard @ Henry Jones Art Hotel

'Big ideas that work small' was the title for Friday's AMI breakfast gig, and Clemenger BBDO's Eaon Pritchard nailed it. Was excellent to hear someone talk on the tech / social tip without spruking rhetoric shite about how awesome Facebook is.

Gangsta

Eaon had a bunch of solid ideas that pulled nods of agreement from even the most unlikely of digital enthusiasts, so I reckon it's worth having a crack at summing his most golden of nuggets - here's my best attempt...

Flip it.
Social tech empowers people to talk about what they want - not what you want them to. Don't ask "how can we build a community around a brand?" - ask instead "how can we build a brand around a community?". 

Pick a fight. Have a purpose. Tell a story. Create value.

Social media isn't about Facebook, Twitter and iPhone apps. Without a big idea that moves your customers, you've basically got nothing. 

Do experiments not research.

Ditch focus groups. The best way to get insights is give people something to play with. Make something small, then see what happens - 'nail it then scale it'. Totes.

Ditch broken ideas.
Marketing theory: just because it's been round for decades, doesn't mean it's right. Liking this remix of the oldschool awareness > interest > desire > action pipeline below (Props to Eaon - this is my butchered version of his model. I thought it might look cooler in pink, but not sure it does).

80% of marketing budgets are spent trying to create awareness, before the consideration stage. But 80% of influence is in other stages of the cycle - particularly in post-purchase and loyalty loop stages.

People want faith. Not more information.

90% of digital budgets go into websites. But less than 10% of customers visit a brand's website for info. And they'll go to other websites for troubleshooting - not yours.

Like?
The value of a FB 'like', is zero if its not acted on. And, 70% of consumers dont think a 'like' equates to opting-in to marketing.

Channels vs story elements
Eaon made a nice distinction between integrated marketing and what he called 'transmedia' marketing. Instead of creating content and pushing it out via a bunch of channels, with a transmedia approach, different channels communicate distinct elements of a narrative - people pull different parts of the story together themselves. Nice.

Commitment is the new campaign

Eaon pointed out the critical difference in campaigns - which generate short cycles of impact with darkness in between - vs programs, which also generate spikes, but focus on retaining and developing customers. 

Slippy is the new sticky.
It's not all about the website. People will connect with a brand via lots of touchpoints, so build an ecosystem that allows people to slip from one property to the next throughout their journey. Love it.

Gotta wrap this post up as it's getting ridiculous (and maybe a little weird that I paid so much attention), so big ups to Eaon and the AMI for a quality event.

Follow Eaon
Tune in - he's got a lot going on:

• Twitter: @eaonp
• Blog: Never get out of the boat